Swiss Steel develops new high-grade production process

Swiss Steel says it has found a way to produce an ultra-fine-grained and tough high-grade steel which makes the need for additional alloys and special treatment obsolete, thanks to a controlled thermomechanical processing phase.

In the process it has named “Extreme Performance Technology (XTP)”, systematic temperature control and alternative forming processes produce an extremely ultra-fine-grain microstructure with grain sizes of less than 5 µm. Steel produced in this way is noted for improved properties with better dynamic and mechanical characteristics, the company explains to Kallanish.

While XTP-treated steel looks like conventional steel on the outside, its advantages are hidden beneath the surface. An ultra-fine-grained steel microstructure provides an unprecedented level of material resistance and strength, Swiss Steel claims. This creates possibilities and paves the day for versatile designs and unconventional component engineering, it notes.

The steel, produced at Swiss Steel’s Steeltec plant in Düsseldorf, Germany, withstands challenges such as intense vibration, high internal pressure or extreme cold. Even at ultra-low temperatures of -101°C, at which conventionally produced steel can become brittle and crack or break, the XTP steel grades retain a high toughness, according to Swiss Steel.

Christian Koehl Germany